Szechuan House is so reasonably priced! I am use to paying $50-$70 (we don't do Chinese a lot) for dinner for two and both times I've eaten at Szechuan House our check was under $25. Amazing. The Waitresses and other staff were so polite and helpful. The food was not Tersiguels, but it was above average.
We ate at Cafe Zen recently - they claim to be a little more healthy then typical Chinese because they don't use MSGs. I really loved it and my Fiance enjoyed her dish as well, but she told me the restaurant looks sort old and worn. I think I can talk her into going back for another try.

MY RESPONSE: Another thing about Attman's was that there was a guy in line behind me who I struck up a conversation with and he has been going there for years and eats there frequently I guess. He sort of gave me a narative of the place and told me stories of how his father had also enjoyed Attman's.

I ate at Attman's Deli once and it was really amazing. You can just feel the "almost 100 years" of history in the place. I went with my Fiance (who is not the easiest person to impress with food) and we stood in line and then ate in the kabitz room. Both of us loved the food and she practically had to drag me out because I was going around looking at all the old pictures. I can't say enough about them. I can't wait to go back. Maybe I'll check out this Katz's - I travel to NYC about 4-5 times per year. There's another deli in NYC where people are suppose to line up - seemingly forever called Mama's of Corona that is suppose to make deli sandwiches from Heaven. I wish I had more time and money to spend in NYC - Also on my list of things to do in NYC is hit some of those great old "red sauce" Italian restaurants - maybe somewhere like Arthur Ave. in the Bronx (The real Little Italy).

I was just reading the thread about Matthew's and thought it might be fun to start a list of "Baltimore Institutions" - restaurants that seem to have been around forever and can still provide a fairly good meal. My contribution to the list will be: Matthew's Sabatino''s Sip and Bite Faidley's? Ann's Dairy Cream (even though I don't like this place) Attman's Deli Any others?
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ETA - I merged this thread with the "Oldest Restaurants in Baltimore" thread because there was so much overlap. Thanks, WhitemarshJohnny, for having started it - there's loads of good information in it. All six of the restaurants you mentioned were not on the (still primordial) list before, but all six are now. Cheers, Rocks

The food and the value at the Helmand were outstanding. The only criticism I have is that there is not a lot of elbow room in the dining room. I was amused by the bathrooms with the birds indicating which room was for men and which was for women. I'd like to try the other two restaurants owned by the same guy - b and (Tapas Teatro?).

I tried this place a couple of months ago with the Queen (My Fiance). I liked it as did the Queen. Bill was something like $75 but we ate well and I remember the service being particularly good. It's a cute place and it was actually pretty easy to find parking. The food was pretty good.

I posted this question at Chow Hound, but posts seem to get lost among such heavy traffic there - I thought I'd post it here and let it linger for a while and get some of your valuable suggestions.
What is the best place in the Baltimore area where dinner or lunch is under $25. for 2 people?

MY RESPONSE: I took this off their website: "OK, here’s the deal… You already know that we’re BYOB, so in August, bring in a bottle of wine (or a six pack of beer) anytime on any Saturday, and we’ll give you your pizza for half price! Uh, large pizzas, dine-in (and drink-in) only*. ..."
http://www.iggiespizza.com/
I think we'll try them out this Saturday - I'm really poor this weekend but just can't bare to sacrafice eating out.

When I had very limited means we would go to Chaps Pit Beef over on Pulaski Highway - right near a strip club. They have indoor picnic tables as well as outdoor picnic tables for when the weather is nice so you can enjoy the fresh air and traffic along 40 : ) They really do make an honest to God GREAT pitbeef sandwich. Their french fries are excellent and always seem like an overly generous portion. I took my neighbor there recently and it was still as excellent as ever. It's not a fancy place, but they treat you like they're happy to have you there and they do a fine job.
http://search.cityguide.aol.com/baltimore/...eef/v-102377000
Andy Nelson is good too - they're up on York Road in Hunt Valley/Cockeysville. They have more menu items then Chaps Pit beef - a little more formal if you will (but still cafeteria style). They are highly rated by Zagat and Baltimore Magazine. Everything is delicious but beware of hot (spicy) items.
http://www.andynelsonsbbq.com/
I thought there was a place on Taylor Av in Parkville (maybe by Mooreland Cemetery?) that I ate at a number of years ago that was good. I believe it was more of a takeout place then a restaurant.
I ate at Big Bad Wolf on Harford Road once, which always gets good reviews and ratings, but was disappointed in the terrible service (they gave us the wrong food and were unable to answer questions about the menu items). The sandwiches (although they were the wrong ones) tasted good. I probably won't go there again unless someone drags me there - my pet peeve is poor service.

I'm sorry to hear that your present experience was not as good as the one stored in your memory. I've considered going there, even knowing that they do not rate well like they did in the past, just to do something very Baltimore - to sort of travel back in time. My Fiance tells me that Sabs was the rage back in the late 70's and early 80's when she was in high school. We visited Amiccis in Little Italy recently in search of good Italian cheap eats. They were fantastic. I had the lasagna and my Fiance had the Rigatoni Bowlenese (sp.?) and we had mussels as an appetizer. The Rigatoni Bowlenese was particularly good. The mussels had a tiny bit of grit - I don't have mussels often enough to know if that's normal or not, but they seemed very good otherwise. Amicci's is "family safe" which means it's acceptable to bring your screaming kids. I've heard that La Tavola is suppose to be excellent (They are on my list of places I want to go). They received a 25 score for food from Zagat which is means their food should be excellent. They're suppose to be a little more expensive then Sabatino's or Amiccis - Zagat's survey says apx. $33 per person including tip - but generally I almost always end up spending more then the Zagat survey average.